Amazon offers to help government on green card allocation ahead of deadline

An important deadline is fast approaching for immigrant employees — and the companies that employ them.

Amazon is urging Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to administer all available green cards before September 30, the federal government’s deadline for processing green card applications this year. (A green card allows its holder to live and work permanently in the U.S.)

In 2022, Congress allotted 281,000 employment-based green cards, but more than 100,000 still needed to be adjudicated as of June 30, according to Amazon.

“We know that this backlog has a big impact on our employees’ lives and families, which is why we have also offered to help USCIS resolve these cases and efficiently eliminate the backlog,” stated Beth Galetti, senior VP of human resources at Amazon, in a blog post on the company’s website.

If the green cards are not administered, they are not transferred or added to next year’s count. More than 65,000 employment-based green cards went unused in 2021.

Amazon noted that its employees affected by the green card backlog already live in the U.S. and contribute to local economies.

“Allocating green cards not only benefits those immigrant employees and their families, it economically and culturally enriches U.S. companies, neighborhoods, and regions,” Galetti said. “We hope USCIS will take the important and urgent step of allocating all green cards for this year.”